I know we’re in Advent, (my latest Advent reflection is here) and -for me, anyway- nothing captures the sense of longing and urgent anticipation of this season than O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. I also like O Come, Divine Messiah very much. Some of you may remember I vocally murdered it on one of my Advent Podcasts from last year.
But I think my three favorite Christmas Songs are Angels We Have Heard on High, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (I am partial to the French Carols) and, finally, We Three Kings.
The first makes me giddy; the rolling descent of the “Gloria” taken up by the breathy “in excelsis Deo” has seemed since my childhood to be the nearest thing to real angel song -to the real heavenly herald of that night- that my imagination can grasp.
Angels, we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plane
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strain:
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
It captures the psalms, where mountains clap, and cedars shout and dolphins and all water creatures praise the Lord!
The second is the solemn hush; we are so buried in sentiment in this season -both religious and secular- that we can easily forget how much peril accompanied the Nativity of the Lord. Mary and Joseph were away from home, traveling hard roads. A king went slaughtering after them, and the men from the East found another route home. And there has been, ever since, hard roads and peril. It is no light thing to deliver humanity from itself. Let All Mortal Flesh is a song suitable for any time -at least I sing it anytime- but we need to really hear it at this time of year, and to understand that it is a song of deliverance, and of exorcism:
Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way
As the Light of Light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away
And the third, well, I really fell in love with We Three Kings when I heard
The Roches* haunting recording of it (Track 13), but even before then, I always appreciated the lore of it; the short verse-by-verse bios exploring the meaning of each of the gifts presented to the Newborn King, and the wonderful refrain which moves forward in a manner that almost replicates the herky-jerky movement of the camels, “westward leading, still proceeding…”
Myrrh is mine, it’s bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb
O Star of Wonder, Star of Night,
Star with Royal Beauty Bright,
Westward Leading, Still Proceeding
Guide us to the Perfect Light.
Sigh. Wonderful!
Speaking of Christmas Music, a few weeks ago I mentioned that the Benedictines of Mary, who are growing very quickly into a sizable monastic community without a monastery, had released a new CD of Christmas music** as a fund-raiser. Today I got my copy and I must say, this is some very lovely stuff. It begins with Angels We Have Heard… but then mixes well-known hymns with lesser-known classics, a bit of Gregorian Chant and several wholly new songs written by the nuns, one of whom is an accomplished musician and composer. Their recording of The First Nowell is gorgeous, but I also loved Of the Father’s Love Beginning, Dies Est Laetitiae and their hushed, reverent Silent Night gave me goosebumps; it sounds the least “polished” and the most personal.
Actually, I loved the whole album of 23 songs, and you might, too.
Related: What is your favorite psalm?
FTC Disclosure: *Your Amazon purchase generates a very small kickback to support the site. **No kickback to site.
December 1st, 2009 | 5:43 pm | #1
My favorite carol is Emmanuel. It will fit on the highland bagpipe too.
December 1st, 2009 | 5:47 pm | #2
Our chorus director insists that she is allergic to Silent Night and that’s why she cries when we sing it — anyday now some pharma company will come out with a cure! We always sing it last… (We had her crying last night when we sang it at the dress rehearsal. Of course that might have been because of the rather rough nature of a few pieces and the concert is this weekend — that whole panic thingy…)
December 1st, 2009 | 5:57 pm | #3
Ps 51. I cry every time I read it. Just re-read it and cried again.
I’m a sucker for Silent Night. Its the mysterious hushed quality of it. Its so intimate, so reverent, so simple. Its simplicity makes us think we can grasp the mystery of that night, but in truth, it escapes our limited understanding. Silent Night makes me cry. Any time of year it can transport me from whatever I am doing to a hope-filled, star engulfed world with a stable, some steam puffing animals and a tender mom and foster dad. There’s just so much glory, hope and light in that. That is what makes the St. Andrew/Christmas novena to appealing to me. “Hail and Blessed be the hour and moment in which the son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem in the piercing cold. ….” It started yesterday. Not too late for folks to join in. It really quiets one down and focuses one on the moment when history turned for the better.
Advent Carol? People Look East. Don’t know why, but, it fills my heart with hopeful expectation.
Peace, Anchoress.
-admin]
xo
[The St. Andrew "Novena" is here. You know me...I can think about the whole mystery of the Incarnation every day. It's a Catholic thing!
December 1st, 2009 | 5:58 pm | #4
One of my favorites is “Personet Hodie”, but not the girls’ chorus version most people have heard. The version I fell in love with was one I first heard at the Christmas Candlelight Concert at Gonzaga University my freshman year, a fully orchestrated version with an eight-part mixed chorus and church organ. I walked out of that concert determined to buy the CD and had to put it on order. Luckily, it came just before the term break.
It makes me tear up just thinking about it.
I don’t know if the CD is available anywhere; it came out in 1995 (sheesh.) It’s the Encore CD, not the Christmas at Gonzaga CD.
December 1st, 2009 | 6:03 pm | #5
My favorite carols: “The Holly and the Ivy” and “Once in Royal David’s City”.
December 1st, 2009 | 6:03 pm | #6
O! Holy Night, most definitely! Gorgeous and powerful.
December 1st, 2009 | 6:06 pm | #7
The King’s College choir singing “Once in Royal David’s City”.
Otherwise: Adeste Fideles.
December 1st, 2009 | 6:12 pm | #8
Amen, sister. I try to do the Angelus at least 2x a day (not being an early bird and all).
December 1st, 2009 | 6:24 pm | #9
I always get choked up by “Do You Hear What I Hear.”
The child, the child,
sleeping in the night,
He will bring us goodness and light.
December 1st, 2009 | 6:27 pm | #10
Silent Night is my favorite Christmas song.
And of course, the 23rd Psalm is my favorite psalm. I always think of my grandmother when I hear it. She wanted it read at her funeral.
December 1st, 2009 | 6:30 pm | #11
Silent Night (as grade schooler used to look at the babies in the pews and think how He came as one of them)
Hark the Herald Angels Sing (used to cry when sung on Charlie Brown at the thought it may be touching someone unexpected)
O Holy Night (remember being in 6th grade choir at Midnight Mass and being amazed at an 8th grade girl who sang this song with such power and feeling)
Joy To The World (our choir Sister ended this with the Hallelujah chorus and the combo was so emotional and awe-inspiring to leave Midnight Mass on this note)
(Modern songs I’ve loved are Mary Did You Know and Amy Grant’s Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)-I really love, love that last one.)
December 1st, 2009 | 6:38 pm | #12
‘Oh Holy Night’ is amazing, particularly when a really powerful singer belts out ‘fall on your knees’. It takes my breath away. I’ve adored ‘What Child is This’ since my gradeschool days. A more modern carol, ‘Mary Did You Know’, is really lovely, although the concept is a tad ludicrous. Of course Mary knew about the divine nature of her child!
December 1st, 2009 | 6:43 pm | #13
For classic carols, “O Holy Night” is the big winner for me. When it’s properly performed, I can often start to get misty right about when it gets to “Fall on your knees….”
For modern songs, Heaven Came to Earth by 2nd Chapter of Acts is absolutely delightful. A very lovely song.
December 1st, 2009 | 6:44 pm | #14
“Lo, How a rose ere Blooming” is my favorite Christmas carol. There is something deeply contemplative in the cadences of this simple, joyful carol that I find congenial to my spirit during the deep long nights of our Christmas season. But if I lived in the southern hemisphere I might prefer instead one of those excellent carols above that others have named as their own very favorite.
December 1st, 2009 | 6:46 pm | #15
My favorite is “What Child is This”. In terms of pure music, I adore “Carol of the Bells”.
December 1st, 2009 | 6:49 pm | #16
“Hark the Herald” is my parents’ favorite, and therefore mine, too. Dad loves most hymns by “Jack and Chuck” (John and Charles Wesley), though he’s a Calvinist. “Hark the Herald” is perfect for him, therefore, as the version everyone knows today was reworked by their Calvinist friend, George Whitefield.
I also like “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.”
For Advent distinguished from Christmas, I think my favorite is “Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending.” (I haven’t entirely shook my Calvinist upbringing.) I also especially enjoy during Advent listening to Tallis’s, Byrd’s, and Gibbons’s English settings of the Benedictus and Magnificat.
December 1st, 2009 | 6:53 pm | #17
I agree with two of yours, Anchoress, and add one of my own that I’m surprised no one has mentioned yet:
1. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence – I would be hard pressed to find a more dignified melody in the world of metrical hymnody. The imagery of the angels (rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way) is powerful, especially if this is sung a cappella on Christmas Eve, as I have had my choir sing it.
2. We Three Kings – Boy, have I come around on this one. For years, I hated it. I thought it was a sappy sentimental tune (the byproduct of one too many “OOOOOOOO…Star of Wonder” scoop moments). Over the years, I’ve paid attention to the text. What a great summation of the aspects of the incarnation that is presented in the fifth verse: King, and God and Sacrifice.
3. Of the Father’s Love Begotten: Perfect Christmas Day hymn. In English, there are very few songs that can capture the Word Made Flesh idea presented in John’s Gospel on Christmas Day. Another dignified melody.
December 1st, 2009 | 7:07 pm | #18
Maria Walks Amid the Thorn:
MIDI Sequenced by Bill Egan
1. Maria walks amid the thorn,
Kyrie eleison.
Maria walks amid the thorn,
Which seven years no leaf has born.
Jesus and Maria.
2. What ‘neath her heart doth Mary bear?
Kyrie eleison.
A little child doth Mary bear,
Beneath her heart He nestles there.
Jesus and Maria.
3. And as the two are passing near,
Kyrie eleison,
Lo! roses on the thorns appear,
Lo! roses on the thorns appear.
Jesus and Maria.
December 1st, 2009 | 7:13 pm | #19
I’ve always loved “Joy to the World” – it expresses my utter amazement that the Lord would have been born to die for the likes of me.
I get overwhelmed, too, by “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent”. Sadly, our very ‘hip’ choir director can’t be bothered picking lovely old hymns like this, or Come O Come Emmanuel. We get modern remakes that can’t reach the first rung of the ladder on which the older hymns stand. It is so pathetic what passes for music for Mass at our parish.
December 1st, 2009 | 7:21 pm | #20
Adeste Fidelis. In Latin. By Crosby, aka Father Chuck.
Adeste fideles,
laeti triumphantes;
venite, venite in Bethlehem;
natum videte regem angelorum.
venite, adoremus!
venite, adoremus!
venite, adoremus Dominum!
December 1st, 2009 | 7:32 pm | #21
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, without doubt. Second place goes to Oh Holy Night, which brings me to tears when well done.
December 1st, 2009 | 7:42 pm | #22
Tie – “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and “Joy To The World”
December 1st, 2009 | 7:46 pm | #23
When I was little, it was “Away in a Manger” but now I cry every time I try to sing that one. I guess my favorites now are “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and “Go Tell It On The Mountain” but not Mahalia Jackson’s lugubrious telling of it – it should be more joyful shout.
When I was a child, we had a album of Mario Lanza singing Christmas carols (best word for songs, of course) and he did a great “We Three Kings”, especially the way he milked the verse about myrrh.
As to Psalms, I don’t know that many, but I would pick 100, just for the first line: Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye Lands.
December 1st, 2009 | 8:08 pm | #24
For Advent, my favorite is “Hark! A Thrilling Voice is Sounding!”
For Christmas, “Adeste Fideles,” “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” and “While Shepherd’s Watched.”
One thing I always thought the Anglicans did right was their Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, which culminates with the Incarnation Reading From the Gospel of John. Beautiful, beautiful Choral Music.
December 1st, 2009 | 8:14 pm | #25
O Holy Night for me.
December 1st, 2009 | 8:21 pm | #26
Thanks for the kudos to “O Come O Come, Emmanuel.” I’m a protestant, but I’ve always looked forward to this time of year because we got to sing that hymn. Irrespective of this beloved hymn, I’ve always had a particular affection for Advent. Purely a visceral reaction–I can’t explain why.
Christmas-wise, my favorites are for some reason hymns that I originally learned in English but later learned in French for my French class. Perhaps they are more meaningful because I learned them when I was older. Perhaps they are more meaningful because I learned them devoid of my native language. For whatever reason, they always seem purer to me: (1) Minuit Chretien (O, Holy Night) and (2) Un Flambeau, Jeanette Isabella (Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella).
As a “joyful noise”–I can’t sing worth anything–my absolute favorite is Adeste fideles. I can without shame jump into that one.
December 1st, 2009 | 8:41 pm | #27
“Lo, How a rose ere Blooming” and “Away in a Manger”.
I love the subtle syncopation of the rhythm of Lo how a rose, and the simple beauty of Away in a Manger always makes me cry.
December 1st, 2009 | 8:52 pm | #28
My favorite Psalm is the 23rd.
I love “We Three Kings” too! Also, “Good Christian Men Rejoice!” and “Good King Wenceslaus.” I have lots of favorite carols, though I don’t really like a lot of the modern ones, like “Silver Bells” or “Home for Christmas.”
December 1st, 2009 | 8:56 pm | #29
My favorite A Christmas Carol is the one with Patrick Stewart — the others are much too cartoonish, I think, and this one captures a greater realism.
As for songs/hymns, I’ll get back to you.
December 1st, 2009 | 9:06 pm | #30
OK-I’m a Christmas music geek I admit it. Did you ever see the old movie with Haily (sp?) Mills, ‘Whistle Down the Wind”, where three children find an injured escaped convict with long hair and a beard injured in a barn and think he’s Jesus? It has variations on “We Three Kings” as the soundtrack-really haunting. Ever since since I saw that as a kid I’ve loved that carol. For a spirit soaring modern carol I love Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “What Sweeter Music” sung by the Kings College Cambridge Choir. The words of that song are a deep meditation. If you’ve never heard it you’re in for a real treat! Enya has a wonderful version of Veni Emmanuel on her latest CD. Silent Night by Mannheim Steamroller is just right. Purity and simplicity.
December 1st, 2009 | 9:09 pm | #31
That’s an impossible question for me to answer! I can pick out “favorite CD’s”, but those are usually the ones I’m listening to at the moment. Last year I heard a Christmas concert by the Lyric Brass Quintet and bought one of their Christmas CD”s (I know a member of the group) and listened to it for almost a solid month. I like almost anything that Mannheim Steamroller does in the Christmas genre. Most carols make me cry ~ my dad was a church organist and after celebrating my mother’s Christmas Eve birthday, we’d always go to his church to hear the midnight service, so everything I hear at this time of the year reminds me of my parents.
I love some of the Gloria’s ~ John Rutter, Vivaldi. And I have a real love and appreciation for Handel’s Messiah. Despite having been in rehearsals at the college for the past two months (with more to come), I still thoroughly enjoyed the performance I did this past Sunday…every note is so beautifully crafted to go with the powerful words from the Bible telling the story of the Advent, the birth, death and resurrection of our Christ.
December 1st, 2009 | 9:09 pm | #32
Once in Royal David’s City, Angels From the Realms of Glory, and especially Of the Father’s Love Begotten. It’s absolutely gorgeous, so quiet, and yet so…big. Love it.
Um, also, I can’t get enough of Elton John’s Step into Christmas. It’s not really a Christmas carol per se, or, um, at all, really, but it’s great.
And what is Christmas without the Boston Pops rendition of Sleigh Ride?
December 1st, 2009 | 9:13 pm | #33
“Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plain” — done by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Lovely. Evocative of the season.
December 1st, 2009 | 9:15 pm | #34
As for my favorite Carol, it’s a toss up between “O Holy Night” and “Do You Hear What I Hear.” Psalm 24 is at the top of my list of favorites. I also love “Mary Did You Know” and “Breath of Heaven.” The 8th Graders in our Parish School do these 2 songs as part of their Christmas Pageant every year and they are very moving.
December 1st, 2009 | 9:17 pm | #35
O holy night,
the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world
in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
And Angels We Have Heard On High – I too, adore the Gloria!
December 1st, 2009 | 9:23 pm | #36
O Holy Night – it always gives me chills. Same thing happens with Ave Maria.
December 1st, 2009 | 9:29 pm | #37
Oh, goody! I get to add one not mentioned yet, I think. For the traditional, my favorites are Emmanuel and We Three Kings. But, for “modern,” I love I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day – words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, music by John Marks.
Second verse:
And in despair I bowed my head, “There is no peace on earth,” I said, “For hate is strong and mocks the song Of Peace On Earth, Good Will To Men.”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep, “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with Peace On Earth, Good Will To Men.”
I also love the Menotti operetta “Amahl and the Night Visitors” because my kids sing in it every year. I don’t even tire of it after many rehearsals and four performances! It’s free, so ya’ll come!
December 1st, 2009 | 9:33 pm | #38
I don’t know that I can pick a number one favorite –
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Cantique de Noel
Carol of the Bells
He is Born (Il est ne)
Coventry Carol
– all good
My favorite Christmas album is probably Joan Baez’s Noel.
O Come All Ye Faithful? Not before Midnight Mass.
December 1st, 2009 | 9:38 pm | #39
Scrooge with Alistair Sim is our family favorite.
Carols – Emmanuel, In the Bleak Midwinter, Good King Wenceslas. I love to listen to Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols at this time of year, too.
December 1st, 2009 | 10:08 pm | #40
Wow, my all time favorite throughout the year is “let all mortal flesh…” – I never really thought of it as a Advent hymn but you are right (again). Thinking of this is a lot better than listening to a speech to a captive crowd.
December 1st, 2009 | 10:22 pm | #41
Great, great choices by all above. One I’d add to the list is “Gesu Bambino” – I love Pavarotti’s recording from the “O Holy Night” LP/CD.
Anchoress, I hope you will you continue to favor us with some embedded YouTube’s of the favorites mentioned.
[For some reason my household cannot currently access youtube. Apparently an ISP problem -admin]
December 1st, 2009 | 10:32 pm | #42
This is much worse than eating just one potato chip. Choosing just one Christmas carol? Of the standards, Adeste Fideles and Joy to the World. Of the less often sung, In the Bleak Midwinter and Early Christmas Morning. I cry every time I try to sing either of the later two.
But then, there is Rutter’s Candlelight Carol and I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day–And if Silent Night and Hark the Herald Angels aren’t sung, it isn’t Christmas.
December 1st, 2009 | 10:53 pm | #43
I think I like Adeste Fideles the best, but the English-language version of that carol is significant too.
Why?
Because it proves that not only was the Infant Jesus in the manger worshiped by shepherds and Magi, and oxen and donkeys, but the plant kingdom as well.
The root vegetables and the fruits joyfully worshiped the Savior, but the green leafy vegetables were reluctant and had to be persuaded. So they sang to them:
“Oh come, lettuce, adore Him!
Oh come, lettuce, adore Him!
Oh come, lettuce, adore Him!
Christ the Lord!”
December 1st, 2009 | 10:56 pm | #44
I am so delighted that you know of The Roches and their Christmas album. They are long-time favorites of mine, and I love the fact that their Christmas disc is utterly un-ironic — which is a pose that a trio of Greenwich Village gals like them could easily have adopted!
About “Let All Mortal Flesh…” It works great at Christmas, but the text is actually from the weekly Byzantine liturgy, where it accompanies their equivalent of an offertory procession. I’ve used it in the Corpus Christi liturgy. But of course the Incarnation and the Blessed Sacrament are intimately related.
Which reminds me of the inscription in the Blessed Sacrament chapel of the [Anglican] Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, in England: “Ecce Ancilla Domini + Ecce Agnus Dei + Ecce Panis Angelorum”. (Behold the Handmaid of the Lord + Behold the Lamb of God + Behold the Bread of Angels) Perfect!
December 1st, 2009 | 11:08 pm | #45
“Oh Holy Night” is my favorite Christmas carol especially when Michael Crawford sings it. It takes your breath away.
December 1st, 2009 | 11:42 pm | #46
AndyMo said my favorite, though my favorite rendition of it is in the New English Hymnal: Of the Father’s Heart Begotten.
I’m a sucker for Venantius Fortunatus, tr. J.M. Neale.
I’m also a great sucker for medieval English: Coventry Carol, Hertfordshire Carol, Sussex Carol, etc.
Also Angelus ad Virginem and In Dulci Jubilo . . . I have kind of a weird stable of favorites, and they don’t get trotted out every year, but I love them nonetheless.
December 2nd, 2009 | 12:09 am | #47
There are so many, but “Who is He in Yonder Stall” hasn’t been mentioned yet and I love that one. The questions in each verse are answered resoundingly in each chorus, “‘Tis the Lord! oh wondrous story! ‘Tis the Lord! the King of glory! At His feet we humbly fall, Crown Him! crown Him, Lord of all!”
A more modern one is “Ten Thousand Joys”. It’s sung as a duet between Mary and Joseph.
Slightly off-topic, but each December I MUST read “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” and “The Modern Magi”, with a box of tissues nearby for each one.
December 2nd, 2009 | 12:20 am | #48
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December 2nd, 2009 | 12:29 am | #49
I’m with Willikers: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming. Far and away.
December 2nd, 2009 | 12:29 am | #50
I have a new “favorite” Christmas carol, discovered this year when the family made a switch to a Methodist church from a lifelong association with the Baptists. The carol is in the Methodist hymnal and is called “People, Look East”. I love it!!
December 2nd, 2009 | 12:40 am | #51
My absolute favorite is “O Holy Night.” Then all the traditional Christmas Carols.
I also fell in love last year with Casting Crowns “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.” I never knew the background of the lyrics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7670CXvPX0 It brings tears to my eyes especially with our soldiers away from home fighting war.
December 2nd, 2009 | 12:43 am | #52
My favorite Christmas music of all time is Silent Night sung in the original German. It is performed before midnight mass by the Twin Cities Catholic Chorale. The carols start at 11:15 and are followed by Mozart’s Coronation mass at midnight. The church where they perform was established for German speaking Catholic immigrants, my great grandfather among them. The parish clung to the traditional form of worships such as the Latin mass and the Chorale has been performing there since 1974.
It is a very long service and on drive back to my mother’s house after 2:00 am I’d often put on a CD of carols. O Holy Night was my favorite at that hour, with the Minnesota sunrise still five and half hours away. Most often the air would be as clear and cold as ice made from the purest of spring water. The stars would indeed be brightly shining above the bleak snow covered landscape.
“The thrill of hope The weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn.”
December 2nd, 2009 | 12:49 am | #53
I grew up listening to many different Christmas albums, from Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” to a sing-along set of LP’s by Mitch Miller. One favorite was by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians titled “The Sounds of Christmas”, which featured songs representing a wide variety of moods, including several songs I’d never heard elsewhere. Two that stand out were “I Wonder as I Wander” and “Children Go Where I Send Thee.” I recently searched online for a CD, but unfortunately it’s been out of print for years.
December 2nd, 2009 | 12:59 am | #54
I must weigh in also to support O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The desperate longing, the anticipation of his arrival, the joy of His birth, and a tinge of melancholy that reminds us that this joyous coming will lead to great suffering and death… it is a wonderful, awesome song, both adjectives being used in their original meanings.
December 2nd, 2009 | 1:05 am | #55
O come Emmanuel – I have always loved the key for this song. It has always spoken to me of an ancient, weary longing. Of course, no song anticipates Christmas so perfectly.
Its also a good fit for me because I am not usually in such hurry to get to the celebration of Christmas that Advent gets lost along the way. I think there is too much skipping going on esp when it comes to hymns that were written for the Feast of Christmas being played before its Christmas! Everything in its right place and time I say (which probably goes a long way in explaining why I am an Anglican
) Besides, I love waiting and the counting down of the days in Advent and want to enjoy it.
The Trisagion – I don’t know if its particularly a Christmas hymn but in my parish we will sing a setting of this beautiful prayer by the Russian composer M. Archangelsky throughout the Advent season. It just knocks me for a loop. The tune sounds ancient like it could be 2000 years old and yet the sense of eternal time is so strong and deep and peaceful. It is such a perfect antithesis to all that is wrong with modern life that it is like jumping in a icy river. It is something alive-making and that makes it perfect for Advent in my opinion.
December 2nd, 2009 | 1:09 am | #56
Back when I was a kid, my favorite was definitely “Angels We Have Heard on High,” for some of the reasons you mention–but also because I thought it was fun to sing, and I was very good with the high parts. I still like it, but I haven’t enjoyed singing it in years as much as I did when I was younger.
I see some have mentioned “O Holy Night.” That is one I have mixed feelings about. I think it is a lovely song and can be very well done, but it seems to have become the power ballad of the Christmas carols–one that must be tackled by any singer who is trying to show how serious he or she is. Hence, we have the likes of Josh Groban, Celine Dion, and Mariah Carey being sure to include “O Holy Night” on their Christmas albums. I could go on naming ambitious performers who’ve released versions of that song in the last dozen or so years. I’m afraid that song has gotten to be a little overdone in this day and age.
As far as “Silent Night,” I always liked it when I was young, and I also liked the story about how it was first written and performed. But lately I grow tired of it whenever it is sung in church at any Christmas eve service. Must we really turn out all the lights and hold up candles, etc.? This is a bit of showiness that I find completely unnecessary, a tradition that has taken hold which I have very little patience for anymore. I’d like “Silent Night” much more if we could just dispense with that tradition every year. (If they did it once every four or five years, it might still seem nice, but every year has gotten old.)
December 2nd, 2009 | 1:44 am | #57
There are so many good Christmas carols:
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
The Coventry Carol
Gesu Bambino
Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella
One that always sends a chill down by spine is The Virgin’s Slumber Song by Max Reger. Here are the words:
“Amid the roses Mary sits and rocks her jesus child,
While among the tree tops, sighs a breeze so warm and mild.
And soft and sweetly, sings a bird upon the bow
Aaahh baby, dear one, slumber now.
Happy is thy laughter,
Silent is thy holy rest
Lay thy head in slumber,
Soft upon thy mother’s breast
aaahh baby dear one, slumber now ”
I think my two favorite Christmas recordings are two cd’s by the old Roger Wagner Chorale: Joy to the World and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
December 2nd, 2009 | 1:44 am | #58
O Little Town of Bethlehem – which I only really listened to after our music director said how much he disliked its Victorian sound! But the third verse in particular has won my heart:
“How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is giv’n!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heav’n.
Though none may hear Him coming,
Yet in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.”
Another love is the Wexford Carol, which we had on a Julie Andrews album of yore. So lovely … go hear it now!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXkgqpVVpTg – I’m still tearing up. Stupid allergies!!
December 2nd, 2009 | 2:03 am | #59
I also love ‘Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent” but I’ve never thought of it before as an Advent or Christmas carol – I always thought of it as referring to the Second Coming.
Silent Night, especially if we sing more than one verse. We Three Kings all the verses. Adeste Fideles in Latin because it is so solemn and joyful.
I also grew up with Waring and the Pennsylvanians and was delighted to find the album remastered and for sale as a double CD set last year. Dagwood, check for a website going by “yestermusic” or ‘yestervideo” I still get messages from them, and that’s where I found it. I, too, love ‘Children, Go where I Send Thee” and “I Wonder as I Wander.”
December 2nd, 2009 | 2:33 am | #60
I’m enjoying the new Ephesus CD also. I’m keeping it in the car and I feel happy every time I turn the music on again.
My yearly favorites change yearly but I always love the versions of Carol of the Bells.
And thanks to this conversation I have to go find some John Rutter music on Rhapsody now… scuze me.
December 2nd, 2009 | 4:54 am | #61
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. When I was in 5th grade we sang this in choir. I was agnostic and it filled me with so many questions. When I was 16 the answers came.
O Holy Night
Good Christian Men Rejoice
Breath of Heaven
I Wonder as I Wander (but I hardly hear it)
Lord of the Dance (Christmas Revels)
Corn, Water and Wood (Michael Martin Murphey)
December 2nd, 2009 | 5:48 am | #62
Favorite carol:
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen…..
“Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy!”
December 2nd, 2009 | 6:56 am | #63
I love In the Bleak Midwinter dearly, and Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent as well, but a particular favorite of mine is Good King Wenceslaus. I heard a version of it that had a baritone singing the King’s lines, a boy singing the servant’s lines and the chorus sang the rest. It was wonderful.
I’ve burned out on a lot of Christmas carols though – the perils of working retail where you hear it all the time. Also, may I rant a bit? Please quit using inclusive language in carols. If I hear God Rest Ye Merry, Christian Friends one more time, I am likely to explode.
[Bleak Midwinter & Wenceslaus are two of my faves, also, and you rarely hear Good King Wenceslaus anymore -admin]
December 2nd, 2009 | 7:42 am | #64
Speaking of The Roches, their three-part a capella rendering of the Hallelujah Chorus from The Messiah is wonderful. (Not really a Christmas carol, but customarily heard during the season.)
December 2nd, 2009 | 7:44 am | #65
Here’s a link to the Roches’ Hallelujah chorus (not the best quality). Link
December 2nd, 2009 | 7:49 am | #66
As a good Norwegian/Wisconsin Lutheran Badger, I find that both Breath of Heavan, and Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, sung by Celtic Woman, can reduce me to tears.
Breath of Heavan, because it reminds me of the courage of a 14 year old, who is willing to accept the responsibilty of being the Mother of God. I don’t even know what to say about that, that would sound even the least bit coherent. Yet she accepted the job. Egad, but that gives one pause for thought!
Celtic Woman’s really does a number on me, with the peerless music of Bach, and the crystal clear voices of those young women, fills one with the amazing love that has for us all, ( presumably even non-Badgers ), even though I, at least, have done very little to deserve it. I am filled with such gratitude for that love when I watch that song on YouTube. Thank goodness it isn’t on thier Christmas album, or I would have to stop the Ranger, while it played.
I heard it earlier tonight, and my muzzle is still soggy, and badgers look silly that way.
A Merry Christmas to you, dear Anchoress, and all your readers.
December 2nd, 2009 | 8:16 am | #67
My two favorite Christmas Albums: “The Soul of Christmas: A Celtic Music Celebration,” and Kathy Mattea’s “Good News.” My favorite Christmas carol is “Christ Child’s Lullaby,” a Scot’s Gaelic song (Taladh Chriosta) from the Outer Hebrides. I love the English version sung by Kathy Mattea. I love the very idea of the song: Mary singing a lullaby to her child and her God. Here’s a link to a (somewhat cheesy) YouTube video: link
December 2nd, 2009 | 8:41 am | #68
I love most of them. But one of my favorites is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” I love it because of its realism. Written in the context of the American Civil War one stanza contemplates the state of the world and acknowledges that “…hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth….”
But it is just as realistic to proclaim with the carol:
“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail; the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
December 2nd, 2009 | 8:50 am | #69
Great post!
Here’s my list in no particular order:
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Still Still Still (Mannheim Steamroller version)
link
Of the Father’s Love Begotten
He Is Born
Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming
Silent Night (Phil Keaggy on guitar/Majesty and Wonder CD)
And just for the happy, celebratory sound of it,
Feliz Navidad!
December 2nd, 2009 | 9:22 am | #70
Oh Come, All Ye Faithful (to sing)
Night of Silence (to hear)
My choice would be “O Little Town of Bethlehem” to sing, except that I can’t sing and cry at the same time. I just get caught up in “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful”, so no problem there.
December 2nd, 2009 | 9:59 am | #71
O Holy Night – the favorite of both my late mother Irene and me! I cry every time I hear it because it reminds me of her. Isn’t it interesting, she’s been gone 33 years and I still miss her every single day. Now THAT is impact! She was intelligent, talented, slightly goofy and absolutely the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.
December 2nd, 2009 | 10:15 am | #72
My current favorite is “In the Bleak Midwinter” because of this verse:
“Angels and archangels may have gathered there. Cherubim and Seraphim thronged the air. But only his mother, in her maiden bliss, worshipped the Beloved with a kiss.”
Maybe it’s my pregnancy, but how can your heart not catch in your throat at the thought of Mary, pure and tender, kissing the face of her truly perfect new baby?
December 2nd, 2009 | 10:17 am | #73
I love singing “The Messiah” , especially the part that goes ” and the Glory, the Glory of the Lord, shall be revealed.” It is such a glorious work of music. My favorite traditional carol is Joy to the World, exactly because it is so joyful.
Favorite Psalm: 103. “Bless the Lord oh my soul, and all that is within me bless His Holy Name”.
December 2nd, 2009 | 11:07 am | #74
O Holy Night
O Come All Ye Faithful
The First Noel and
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
This year, my favorite Christmas song is “My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord” which my praise team is singing this Sunday in our contemporary service. It’s a very upbeat song and I’d love it anyway, but the chorus is an arrangement of The Magnificat and there’s just something that tickles my funny bone about singing it in a Southern Baptist sanctuary.
December 2nd, 2009 | 11:13 am | #75
“O Come all Ye Faithful” is my absolute favorite but “In the Bleak Midwinter” is a close second…
1. In the bleak midwinter, frost wind made
moan
earth stood hard as iron, water like a
stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on
snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.
2. Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor
earth sustain,
heaven and earth shall flee away when
he comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place
sufficed,
the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
3. Angels and archangels may have
gathered there,
cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
worshiped the beloved with a kiss.
4. What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a
lamb,
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
yet what I can I give him: give my heart.
December 2nd, 2009 | 11:22 am | #76
Ellen, LOL, I guess you wouldn’t like “Good Christian Friends Rejoice”? (Me neither.)
I used to work in retail too. Fortunately, the places I worked at played mostly modern Christmas songs, along the lines of “The weather outside is freezing/but it’s a white Christmas in the city/where silver bells ring/I’ll be home for a holly-jolly Christmas” la, la, la, and so forth. They rarely played the more traditional stuff, so I never burned out at that.
My brother once worked in retail, near a line of singing santas, all singing “Holly Jolly Christmas” at once, with the voice of Burl Ives. All day long. He kept his sanity, though I’m not sure how.
December 2nd, 2009 | 11:49 am | #77
Those (like me) who like “I Heard the Bells” and “In the Bleak Midwinter” should get the Windham Hill CD “Winter Solstice III”–the performances by John Gorka and Pierce Pettis are lovely, haunting. The rest of the CD is also quite good.
December 2nd, 2009 | 12:12 pm | #78
Silent Night, hands down. Our neighborhood used to do a carol sing at an old church nearby, the friday before Christmas. Silent Night was always done last; and we’d only hum the final verse. Moving and would reduce everyone to tears.
The Hallelujah Chorus is always welcomed. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring as well – and I don’t limit them to Christmas. I listen to them all year long. I’m working now on teaching myself to play Jesu on my piano. Challenging and rewarding.
December 2nd, 2009 | 12:19 pm | #79
Amen to all that have been mentioned before, but I want to put in a plug for my favorite non-favorite.
“Some Children See Him”
by Wihla Hutson & Alfred S. Burt 1951
Some children see Him lily white,
the baby Jesus born this night.
Some children see Him lily white,
with tresses soft and fair.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
The Lord of heav’n to earth come down.
Some children see Him bronzed and brown,
with dark and heavy hair.
Some children see Him almond-eyed,
this Savior whom we kneel beside.
some children see Him almond-eyed,
with skin of yellow hue.
Some children see Him dark as they,
sweet Mary’s Son to whom we pray.
Some children see him dark as they,
and, ah! they love Him, too!
The children in each different place
will see the baby Jesus’ face
like theirs, but bright with heavenly grace,
and filled with holy light.
O lay aside each earthly thing
and with thy heart as offering,
come worship now the infant King.
‘Tis love that’s born tonight!
December 2nd, 2009 | 12:29 pm | #80
Ok, since some here have mentioned some favorite recordings of Christmas carols/hymns, I’ll have to put a good word in for two of my favorites both on the first Very Special Christmas album.
Whitney Houston’s Do You Hear What I Hear. God, she just nails it esp when she puts extra sauce on the line” He will bring us gooooodness and light!” She just pulls the whole thing from beginning to end up from the bottom of her heart. I bawl every single time I hear it. But somehow, like all great performances, her powerful delivery doesnt get in the way at all of the even more powerful lyrics. It just captures the inversion of the Incarnation just so perfectly. A king brought to worship a babe in a manger. The babe in the manger the Lord of the Universe come to sacrifice himself for us.
Then Bob Seger’s Little Drummer Boy. I have always loved the song, but he just does it with a directness and a sincerity that gets the tears gushing for me. I really like how he does the last line “Then he smiled at me…” How does a crusty old rocker with a gravelly voice capture the wonder of a poor child seeing the sweet baby smile of his Lord and Savior? I don’t know but he does it. My amazement that he pulls it off is part of the pleasure, I think.
December 2nd, 2009 | 1:39 pm | #81
[...] What is your favorite Christmas Carol? [...]
December 2nd, 2009 | 2:02 pm | #82
Our public elementary second grade signs and sings “Silent Night” at the Holiday concert.
The toughest dads cry like little girls.
One favorite not mentioned yet is “The Snow Lay on the Ground”. I like its simple folk-like quality. And it mentions St. Anne, my patroness.
Wyoming Catholic College has an Advent/Christmas CD that they were giving out as a donation ‘thank you’ last year. It was a great mix of old, new, well-known and more obscure. Their version of ‘Silent Night’ was especially charming. I look forward to listening to it again this year.
Might be worth checking to see if it is still available. It really was very good.
December 2nd, 2009 | 2:17 pm | #83
“Let all Mortal Flesh” raises the hair on the back of my neck, in a good way. “Veni Emmanuel” if done simply is one of my favorites. I also like “The Wexford Carol,” “Riu, Riu Chiu” and “Aus Himmel Hoch.”
My favorites to sing are “Christ Child’s Lullaby” and “Of the Matter of Bethlehem.”
I’m afraid I’ve heard and sung too many bad versions of “O Holy Night,” ‘Silent Night,” “Away in a Manger” and “In the Bleak Midwinter.” And “Gesu Bambino” and the Bach/ Gounoud “Ave Maria.” They all can be lovely, but, well . . . let them rest for a year, please dear choir director.
December 2nd, 2009 | 2:49 pm | #84
Joy to The World
December 2nd, 2009 | 3:11 pm | #85
Adeste Fidelis can be pretty amazing. Last year, two of my brothers-in-law did a duet of O Holy Night at a simple country Mass that was sublime.
I can’t remember the name of the female artist, but on a fifteen hour drive to my in-laws last year, my wife and I heard an amazing Scots-Irish version of “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” which had a rousing military cadence, almost like an 18th century army on the march. It changed the way I think about that song! It had sort of the same feeling as the theme song used for the John Adams miniseries, but more energetic and upbeat.
Also for Advent: The King Will Come When Morning Dawns.
December 2nd, 2009 | 5:29 pm | #86
In honor of our Bavarian Pope, how about two German classics:
‘O du Fröhliche’ UND
‘Es ist ein Ros entsprungen’.
Nobody does Christmas like the Germans.
December 2nd, 2009 | 5:29 pm | #87
A number of years back, I wrote a Christmas song after being exposed to one too many horrendous modern pop abominations. None of the carols listed above gets played on the radio, while we get to listen to the umpteenth version of ‘let’s save Christmas’— when “saving Christmas” means getting the toys and food back from the Grinch, not keeping the celebration of the holy day.
It was a deliberately wretched song, and I really ought to record it.
Anyway. Point is that if the radio stations had a playlist of the songs listed above, that song would never have come into existence. Hooray for traditional carols!
Veni, veni, Emmanuel;
Captivum solve Israel,
Qui gemit in exilio,
Privatus Dei Filio.
Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel—
Nascetur prote Israel!
December 2nd, 2009 | 6:26 pm | #88
Mine has to be Jose Feliciano’s version of Mary’s Little Boy Child.
December 2nd, 2009 | 6:55 pm | #89
Didn’t link to any of mine in my earlier post; here’s Angelus Ad Virginem in a strange, spare, compelling performance (I thought!).
Coventry Carol
In Dulci Jubilo
Enjoy!
December 2nd, 2009 | 7:43 pm | #90
Lately my oldest daughter and I love “Ding Dong Merrily on High”. It is just impossible to not smile when I hear that song.
For pure sentiment, though, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” kills me every Christmas Vigil Mass.
Mild, he lays his glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth.
Dang, I’m choked up just typing it!
December 2nd, 2009 | 7:53 pm | #91
“Silent Night’… it touches me like no other. “Oh Holy Night” is beautiful and haunting. The last is “Oh Come all Ye Faithful” just because it was my mother’s favorite.
December 2nd, 2009 | 8:53 pm | #92
I have always favored the weird, old, dark carols, the ones that probably came to America in our earliest days and then vanished into the hills and hollows of Appalachia for a few centuries: I Wonder As I Wander, The Cherry Tree Carol, and, especially for anyone who has had the pleasure of hearing my wife sing it, Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head.
Magical, a little melancholy, but moving in a deep and profound way.
December 2nd, 2009 | 10:30 pm | #93
I *love* Let All Mortal Flesk Keep Silence (my wife and I chose it for our wedding), but I’ve always thought about it as a Eucharistic Hymn. I understand that this is its context in the Liturgy of St James, from which it is taken. Although, yes, it works at Christmas, too.
As for particularly Christmas hymns, I’m with Mr(s) Durbin above: Veni, Veni Emmanuel!
December 2nd, 2009 | 10:30 pm | #94
Hoooooo…! Just ONE favorite? OK, here ’tis:
“Minuit, Chretians!
C’est l’heure solonelle,
Ou l’homme Dieu descendit
J’usqua nous….”
…
[and really belt this line:]
“Peuple, a genous!
Attend ta delivrance!
…
(In English, it’s “Oh Holy Night,” of course. And no, I will not apologize for misspellings!)
December 2nd, 2009 | 11:22 pm | #95
It isn’t Christmas for me without “Silent Night”… the third verse never fails to give me goose bumps. My all time favorite version is by Jim Reeves, with Andy Williams a very close second and Bing Crosby a very close third.
Other songs that it just ain’t Christmas without are “O Holy Night,” and “Joy to the World.”
My favorite Advent tunes are “Lo How a Rose E’er Blooming” and “On Jordan’s Bank.”
My favorite secular Christmas tunes is (believe it or not) The Royal Guardsmen’s “Snoopy’s Christmas” — I had that song on a 45 rpm record as a kid and played it to death, all year long!
December 2nd, 2009 | 11:32 pm | #96
O Holy Night, since I first learned it at the age of 6 or 7. I’m 58 now, and I still look towards the sky, filled with love and wonder, every time I hear it.
December 3rd, 2009 | 1:36 am | #97
Elaine:
Christmas bells, those Christmas bells…
Oddly enough, that song is tied to one of the weirder good Christmases that I had. Weird because I had to work; weird because I was sick as a dog. But it was a radio station, playing nothing but Christmas music that day, and I had a window to look out on the falling snow, a mug of Theraflu, and nothing to do but push buttons and listen to Christmas music, which in the state I was in was all I wanted to do anyway. I’d actually never heard that song before, so I found I liked it.
(Bernard; my first name is like yours, Bernadette. I don’t use it when commenting partly because I know I’m going to typo it sooner or later.)
December 3rd, 2009 | 1:02 pm | #98
Anglican Peggy – I thought about my fave from the 2nd of those recordings.
“Noel” by Extreme. Gorgeous harmonies, beautiful message. I play it endlessly at the holiday season and beyond – I never get tired of it.
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